Judy Krupala, CNO at Cuero Regional Hospital, shares nurses' feedback and key steps in their recent transition to MEDITECH Expanse in an interview on The CereCore Podcast.Cuero Regional Hospital and CereCore partnered to enhance technical infrastructure, implement MEDITECH Expanse, and improve clinical data access for acute and ambulatory care providers through a unified EHR platform. Judy Krupala discussesthe transition to MEDITECH Expanse and how nurses quickly appreciated the new EMR's efficiency and its impact on patient care.
A Chief Nursing Officer’s perspective on technology investments
Editor’s note: Find conversation highlights below. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Sobol: Tell us about your experience moving to MEDITECH Expanse.
Krupala: I was in the first MEDITECH conversion in the '90s. Now I had the privilege of being in this conversion to Expanse. You've got to have staff who are doing the documentation prior. They know what they need to chart, and how to chart it. They have to be there for the build.
We are truly in our optimization phase. If you talk to staff, they've learned the basic system, but now they want more. They're asking, "Well, could we do this? Could we build this? Can we do that?" It is a great challenge, almost more than the build, because they're familiar with the system. Now they want the system to work for them.
Now the staff understand and know what they want, they can tell the CereCore staff to ‘Help me build this. Add this. Do these things.’ |Judy Krupala, CNO Cuero Regional Hospital
Sobol: Any tips when navigating technology changes to help nurses prepare for working differently?
Krupala: Technology and innovation are intertwined in nursing. Number one, leave the patient in the center and keep clinical perspective in the forefront. The other thing is to have an IT specialist with you at the table.
I can share examples. We wanted our glucometers to merge into the EMR and we discussed timing. I said, "No, we need it, we want it." So, we put it in at the beginning rather than after go live.
Something that didn't work well prior to Expanse were great vital sign monitors we bought. They were supposed to integrate into the system and do everything. Well, we did not have the IT backup and technology needed, and it was a failure.
Bring your IT people with you for every piece of equipment you buy. They understand the interconnectivity that nurses don't. We just want to plug it up and go.
Curious about what else CNO Judy Krupala had to say?
Stream the full conversation for her perspective on these topics:
Technology and innovation in nursing: Do you know what nurses really want out of today’s healthcare technology? What's most important to them? How will younger nurses change tech adoption?
Nursing students are very, very savvy with computers and documentation now. When they're doing all their clinicals, they're learning multiple EMRs. | Judy Krupala, CNO Cuero Regional Hospital
Training and equipping nurses in rural health: Hear how Cuero Regional Hospital navigates workforce needs and solutions for rural healthcare settings.
I have some nurses right now in the rural nurse certification program. We have leadership classes and our hospital works with our employees. We commit to them because they've committed to us and we are going to grow them. | Judy Krupala, CNO Cuero Regional Hospital
Some of the major topics for rural nurses, but it's not just rural at this time, it's patient safety and workplace safety. We've got to address those. We got to look at the workforce shortage. | Judy Krupala, CNO Cuero Regional Hospital
Resources for EHR Improvement
Where is the untapped potential in your EHR?
Whatever stage of EHR maturity or version of MEDITECH your organization might be using, efficiency gains and EHR optimizations could ease pain points for clinical staff and improve patient care.
Have you scheduled your upgrade with MEDITECH? It’s your first step to understanding your timeline and cost estimations.
Have you planned for integrated financial testing prior to go-live?
Is there a revenue gap between ambulatory and acute? How confident are you in provider charge capture?
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CereCore® provides IT services that make it easier for you to focus on supporting hospital operations and transforming healthcare through technology. With a heritage rooted in our nation’s top-performing hospitals, we serve as leaders and experts in technology, operations, data security, and clinical applications. We partner with clients to become an extension of the team through comprehensive IT and application support, technical professional and managed services, IT advisory services, and EHR consulting, because we know firsthand the power that integrated technology has on patient care and communities.
